1. Turkey rejects Indian wheat consignment
Tags: International News
Turkish authorities refused permission to an Indian wheat consignment due to phytosanitary concerns.
With the return of this 15 million ton wheat consignment, the difficulties of the traders of India have increased.
Turkey is facing a severe wheat crisis.
The government of Turkey is exploring options to buy wheat from abroad.
Keeping in view the domestic demand, India has decided to ban the export of private wheat.
However, 12 countries have requested India for help.
Despite the export ban, India sent a consignment of 60,000 tonnes of wheat to Egypt.
Why Turkey rejected India's wheat consignment?
Turkey claims that Rubella virus has been found in these wheat.
Despite the wheat crisis in the country as a result of the Russia-Ukraine War, Turkey returned the consignment of Indian wheat.
There is a problem of phytosanitary in the wheat of the consignment.
Phytosanitary means a certificate issued by a competent government authority indicating that the particular material or shipment is free from harmful pests and diseases.
What is Rubella disease in humans?
Rubella is an infectious disease caused by a virus.
Rubella is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes small droplets filled with germs into the air and on surfaces.
Symptoms may include fever, sore throat and rash on the face and rash that spreads to the rest of the body.
Until the 1960s, Rubella was a common childhood infection.
After the MMR vaccine came to the market, the virus stopped spreading in the United States around 2004.
The virus is still present in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world.
2. U.S. to send medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine
Tags: Defence International News
US President Joe Biden's administration has announced that it will send high-tech medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine.
Ukrainian leaders are constantly demanding this, struggling to stop Russia's growing hold in Ukraine's Donbass region.
Russia is making incremental progress in the Donbass, seeking to annex the remaining parts of the region.
In total, the United States has pledged nearly $5 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration.
The rocket systems are part of a new $700 million tranche of security assistance for Ukraine from the U S.
About the rocket systems
These include Helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapon systems, tactical vehicles, spare parts etc.
These rocket systems are capable of attacking Russia.
Any of these weapon systems could shoot down Russian if it was close enough to the border.
Medium-range rockets generally can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).
The upgraded rocket system will give the Ukrainian military greater accuracy in targeting Russian assets inside Ukraine.
To Ukraine, the US is planning to send the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, which is mounted on a truck and can carry a container with six rockets.
3. Centre hands over 10 stolen idols to Tamil Nadu
Tags: National State News
The central government has handed back 10 idols stolen from Tamil Nadu temples to the Tamil Nadu government.
These idols were stolen from different places between 1960 to 2008.
These sculptures were handed over by the US and Australia to the Union Ministry of Culture and Ministry of External Affairs in 2020, 2021, 2022.
These idols were handed over to Tamil Nadu DGP C Shailendra Babu during an event in Delhi.
Among the idols that have been returned are two idols of Dwarapal, which are from the 15-16th century; they were stolen from Tirunelvalli in 1994.
Both the idols were handed over by Australia to India in 2020.
Apart from this, two metal idols were stolen from Narsinghdhar Swamy temple in 1985, it has been handed over by America to India.
A bronze statue of Lord Nataraja, an 11-12th century idol, was stolen from the Punnanallur Arulmigu Mariaman temple in 1966-77. It was kept in the Museum of New York.
Apart from this, another bronze idol of Lord Shiva and Parvati was stolen from Vanamigandhar Swamy temple, this idol has been found from Indiana.
In total, eight bronze and two stone sculptures have been returned. Six of the sculptures have been obtained from America and four from Australia.
Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu
It had been set up in 1983 to investigate cases of theft of idols.
It has retrieved 878 idols so far.
4. India and Sweden Host Industry Transition Dialogue In Stockholm
Tags: International Relations International News
India and Sweden hosted the Industry Transition Dialogue on 2 June in Stockholm as a part of their joint initiative, Leadership for Industry Transition (LeadIT).
The LeadIT initiative focuses on areas that are major stakeholders in global climate action and require specific interventions.
This high level dialogue has made a significant contribution to the United Nations Conference 'Stockholm+50'.
Stockholm +50 is a World Environment Assembly held on 2 and 3 June to commemorate the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972.
It sets the agenda for COP27.
Japan and South Africa are the latest members of the initiative.
At present, the total number of LeadIT members is 37, including countries and companies.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav addressed the event.
He said it is a time to celebrate 50 years of collaborative action, as well as a time to introspect on what we have achieved so far and what remains to be achieved.
During the event, India chaired the Round Table Talks on priorities for implementation for 2022-23.
Countries and companies share their initiatives, success stories and plans for the future.
About Sweden
Capital - Stockholm
National Day - 6 June
Parliament - Called ‘riksdag’
Members of parliament - 349 in a single chamber
Head of state - King Carl XVI Gustaf; heir to the throne is Crown Princess Victoria
Total area - 528,447 sq km (fifth largest country in Europe)
Highest mountain - Kebnekaise (2,099 m)
Biggest lake - Vänern (5,650 sq km)
Currency - Swedish krona
5. India and Sweden Host Industry Transition Dialogue In Stockholm
Tags: International Relations International News
India and Sweden hosted the Industry Transition Dialogue on 2 June in Stockholm as a part of their joint initiative, Leadership for Industry Transition (LeadIT).
The LeadIT initiative focuses on areas that are major stakeholders in global climate action and require specific interventions.
This high level dialogue has made a significant contribution to the United Nations Conference 'Stockholm+50'.
Stockholm +50 is a World Environment Assembly held on 2 and 3 June to commemorate the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972.
It sets the agenda for COP27.
Japan and South Africa are the latest members of the initiative.
At present, the total number of LeadIT members is 37, including countries and companies.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav addressed the event.
He said it is a time to celebrate 50 years of collaborative action, as well as a time to introspect on what we have achieved so far and what remains to be achieved.
During the event, India chaired the Round Table Talks on priorities for implementation for 2022-23.
Countries and companies share their initiatives, success stories and plans for the future.
About Sweden
Capital - Stockholm
National Day - 6 June
Parliament - Called ‘riksdag’
Members of parliament - 349 in a single chamber
Head of state - King Carl XVI Gustaf; heir to the throne is Crown Princess Victoria
Total area - 528,447 sq km (fifth largest country in Europe)
Highest mountain - Kebnekaise (2,099 m)
Biggest lake - Vänern (5,650 sq km)
Currency - Swedish krona
6. Gun Control Legislation in Canada
Tags: International News
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled new legislation that would impose "some of the most stringent gun control measures" in decades, including a "freeze" on the country's handgun buying and selling.
This law will limit the capacity of magazines as well as ban toys that look like guns.
Under this new law, only sports shooters, Olympic athletes and security guards will be exempted from the handgun freeze.
In this law, the person who already has a gun will be allowed to keep it.
After the increasing incidents of shooting, the Canadian government has prepared this new plan to control gun culture.
About Canada
Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of total area.
It's only land bordering country is the United States, with which it shares the world's longest land border.
Capital - Ottawa
Prime Minister- Justin Trudeau
Currency- Canadian Dollar
7. Union Cabinet allows procurement by Cooperatives through Government e-Marketplace
Tags: National Economy/Finance
The Union Cabinet on June 1 approved a proposal allowing cooperatives to sell products on the Government-e-Marketplace (GeM) platform.
Currently , registration of cooperative societies as buyers was not included in the existing mandate of Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
The Ministry of Cooperative will decide on the valid list of cooperatives to be included on GeM.
GeM will provide a dedicated onboarding process for cooperatives.
Significance of the move
This move will help 8.54 lakh registered cooperative societies like Amul and IFFCO and their 27 crore members, as they will get products from GeM portal at competitive rates.
Micro and medium small scale industries will get buyers and it will boost the prospects of Vocal for Local and Self-reliant India.
With the opening of the GeM portal, Self Help Groups, MSMEs and small businesses have benefited greatly.
About Government-e-Marketplace (GeM) platform
Launch - 9 August 2016
Purpose - to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process
Nodal Ministry - Ministry of Commerce and Industry
GeM works on inclusion, transparency and efficiency
Who registered on GeM - Artisans, weavers, SHGs, startups, women entrepreneurs & MSMEs are registered on GeM
The portal is open for - all government buyers, Central and State Ministries, departments, public sector enterprises, autonomous institutions, local bodies, etc
Private buyers cannot buy on the platform but private people can sell products to government bodies by the portal.
8. Elon Musk tops list of highest-paid CEOs
Tags: International News
According to the Fortune 500 report, in the year 2021, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk were in first place in terms of highest salary.
In the year 2021, Elon Musk has received $23.5 billion (Rs 1.82 lakh crore) as salary. This also includes encashing stock options issued in 2018, which had a deadline of 2021.
After Musk, the list of the 10 highest-paid Fortune 500 CEOs of 2021 features all tech and biotech CEOs, including the heads of Apple, Netflix and Microsoft.
Apple's Tim Cook was the second highest-paid CEO, who received $ 77.05 million (about six thousand crore rupees) as salary in 2021.
Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang came third on the list with $507 million.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who was at number seven in this list, has received $ 3094 million in the year 2021 as salary.
Top 10 Highest Paid CEOs
Elon Musk (Tesla) - $23.5 billion
Tim Cook (Apple) - $770.5 million
Jensen Huang (NVIDIA) - $561 million
Reed Hastings (Netflix) - $453.5 million
Leonard Schlieffer Regeneron (Pharmaceuticals) - $452.9 million
Marc Benioff (Salesforce) – $439.4 million
Satya Nadella (Microsoft) – $309.4 million
Robert A. Kotik (Activision Blizzard) - $296.7 million
Hawk E. Tan (Broadcom) - $288 million
Saffra A. Katz (Oracle) - $239.5 million
9. 3rd Global Organic Expo 2022
The 3rd Global Organic Expo was held from 26-28 May, 2022 at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi.
The theme of the third edition of 'Global Organic Expo 2022' is "Profitability for Humanity".
The event has been organised by the Society of Health, Environment, Safety and Sustainability Professionals (ShesPro) in association with ICONEX Events.
Organic companies from more than 10 countries of the world participated in the Global Organic Expo-2022.
Objective of Global Organic Expo
Reducing costs and achieving sustainable productivity through capacity development of certified organic products and organic production systems.
Organic products focus on building market linkages between producers and marketers with the ultimate aim of increasing income without any chemical inputs.
The Global Organic Expo is an opportunity to locate new customers and interact face-to-face with existing customers, suppliers and partners.
Important facts
Former Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was the guest of honour for the event. He was awarded the 'True Father of Organic State of Sikkim' during the program.
Pawan Chamling's government had passed a resolution in the state assembly on 24 February 2003 to make Sikkim an organic farming state.
After 12 years, on January 18, 2016, Sikkim became the first 100% organic state in the world.
10. India-Bangladesh Rail Link
Tags: National International News
Passenger train services between India and Bangladesh resumed, Bandhan Express departed from Kolkata for Khulna and Maitree Express started from Dhaka to Kolkata.
The Bandhan Express was resumed rail link between Kolkata and the industrial hub of Khulna.
Khulna is the third-largest city of Bangladesh.
In 1965, the Barisal Express was introduced on this route, which was stopped due to the Indo-Pakistani War.
The government of India along with the Bangladesh government restarted that with Bandhan express in 2017.
Bandhan Express was the second train to be flagged off after the introduction of Maitree Express between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment in April 2008.
It covers the distance between Kolkata and Khulna via Petrapole and Benapole border route to meet the demands of the people of both the countries.
Other works towards strengthening the rail link
In August 2021, the two sides started regular movement of freight trains between Haldibari in India and Chilahati in Bangladesh.
The Haldibari-Chilahati rail link between India and erstwhile East Pakistan was also operational till 1965 which was closed due to war.
It was part of the broad gauge main road from Kolkata to Siliguri at the time of partition.
At least 20 freight trains per month are planned to cross the border on this link by both sides.
